Top 10: the most romantic Venice hotels

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An insider's guide to the most romantic hotels in Venice, including the best for honeymoon stays, canal views, frescoes, pampering spas and Michelin-starred dining, in areas near Saint Mark's Basilica, the Grand Canal, Piazza San Marco and the Rialto Bridge.

This 15th-century palazzo occupies one of the loveliest spots on the Grand Canal, looking across to the magnificent Salute church, and has equally sumptuous interiors to match, with priceless antiques and frescoes, and a small but exquisite spa. All rooms are different but all are filled with precious antiques, paintings, frescoes, objets d’art and beautiful fabrics. Best of the eight Grand Canal-view suites and rooms are the Hemingway, Pisani and Somerset Maugham.

This is one of those places that turns a holiday into a special experience. In a quiet corner, just off a busy street leading to St Mark’s Square, you’ll be made to feel like a treasured guest. The nine bedrooms are supremely comfortable and decorated in richly glowing earthy colours with lovely fabrics, with an Oriental touch. There’s a warm, comfortable ambience in the public areas where exhibitions are often hosted, and the leafy little courtyard is a delight.

The Cima Rosa is in the northerly Santa Croce district – surrounded by great eateries, a not-too-strenuous walk from many sights, and handy for the station too. The only noise disturbing the quiet at this B&B is the lapping of the Grand Canal outside its front windows, and boat traffic on that magnificent waterway. An effortlessly elegant mix of antique and modern, the five-room hotel is the extremely stylish creation of an Italian architect and American decorator couple.

Anyone who values the luxury of retiring to a centro storico garden after a day of strenuous sightseeing will love this place. Right by the Frari basilica, and a 10-minute walk from the Rialto, Oltre il Giardino is down a tiny alley, and accessed through an anonymous gate in a high wall. Once through the gate and into the garden, you could be forgiven for thinking you’d left Venice behind: this is more country hideaway than Venetian palazzo. The contrast is very engaging.

Honeymooners love the exotic themed rooms in this boutique hotel, as do style-conscious travellers interested in an alternative use of the Venetian brocade-and-glass idiom. Tucked away behind the Salute in the pleasantly quiet, gallery-filled Dorsoduro sestiere, Ca’ Maria Adele has its own water entrance. The style is very intimate and very stylish: there’s a welcoming hush to this little place, where you’ll be made to feel immediately at home. Hosts Alessio and Nicola Campa's effortless charm sets the tone for the hotel.

Palazzo Abadessa is a fair hike from many of Venice’s better known tourist attractions but very handily placed – in the quiet northern Cannaregio district – for lots of lesser known gems. With its beautiful heirloom antiques and frescoed ceilings, Palazzo Abadessa is every inch the aristocratic family palace. The magnificent salone, with its works by followers of Tintoretto, enhances this feeling. But clients are treated very much as friends at a house party. And the lovely, lush garden is a wonderful place to relax after a tough day’s sightseeing.

The Oriental-tinged Metropole is a five-star hotel on the lagoon-facing riva degli Schiavoni promenade. With collections of antique fans and crucifixes lining corridors, and a seriously tenebrous mirrored-ceiling lounge, it comes across part opium den, part Old Curiousity Shoppe. Rooms offer beautiful brocade soft furnishings and antiques — from 18th century pieces to Art Deco and Eastern items. The Suite Damasco has a mosaic-clad fountain in the room and a Turkish bath; the rooftop suite has its own private 'altana' roof terrace.

Anyone who is lucky enough to find a free room comes here: the suite with its little balcony is popular with honeymooners, but travellers of all ages and descriptions feel at home here. The 10 rooms in the main part of the hotel cluster around a delightful courtyard with ancient columns and a lovely antique well head. The look is classic Venetian with a contemporary twist; the feel is laid-back and very friendly. An annexe has eight more rooms but has less of the affable air generated by the outdoor space, Turkish bath, and bar and front desk facilities next door.

Anyone who values great service and a dedication to style mixed with comfort comes here. Opera-goers couldn’t be closer to La Fenice, and art-lovers find the exhibitions in the lobby interesting. Attention to detail and friendly and well informed staff make this a stylishly relaxing place to stay. There’s a lovely roof terrace from which to survey the Venetian cityscape. On a canal by the La Fenice opera house, in the San Marco district, AD Place is generally blissfully quiet, except when opera crowds gather below, or gondoliers belt out songs as they pass.